Category: Family

a short list, but a good list

What’s that you say?

Christmas “spirit” got you down? Tired of overdone light displays and gaudy vests (and it’s not even December yet!)?

Here is a list for you, my friend. It’s SHORT so you are sure to make it to the end on this delightful Friday afternoon. This is about keeping the main thing the main thing (if you know what I mean).

  • You MUST pick up this Advent Jesse Tree Book! It’s free (no swiping necessary!) if you sign up to receive emails from Ann Voskamp’s site. She’s a pretty neat lady, so you should check her out even if you don’t dig the book. This resource will give you something to do with your family to prepare for the Christmas season and to remember well the glorious arrival of our Savior!
  • I know I talk about these guys a lot, but I really appreciate their music! If you are of the “Christmas music whenever you feel like it” camp, jump on the Sojourn Music bandwagon with me!
  • If you are all about a good deal (but would rather it be something to read then something to wear) then check out what Tim Challies is gathering for you at his blog. Leading up to Thanksgiving, he will post Black Friday deals and Cyber Monday deals for stuff you might actually buy! Check it out at his blog here.
  • I’m pretty excited at the challenge of making this another Advent Conspiracy Christmas at our house. There are some Ah-mazing ideas at their website about how to make it happen with you and yours! Here’s the video:
  • If you live anywhere near, around, close to, next to, or in the vicinity of Des Moines, Iowa – LISTEN UP. There is an AMAZING ministry that you might not know about called Freedom for Youth. You can support them by doing some Christmas shopping at their location (2301 Hickman Road, Des Moines, IA 50310) on December 3 and 10. Here’s a snippet from their website,
    “This holiday season, Freedom for Youth Ministries is hosting a Christmas Village at the Freedom Center. We will be featuring the teens & young adults handcrafted items such as art, woodworking, food and more! Come for a soup lunch or Christmas shop for unique and handmade gifts for family and friends! Freedom Blend Coffee is on sale during these 2 days!”

That’s the list, as promised, and still no overdone light displays or gaudy vests. #winning

let LOVE fly like crazy

Posted on by Caroline 0

I will sail my vessel

There is something about the view of rolling Iowa hills from the window of a tractor that makes singing along to the radio especially exciting. It’s like “singing in the shower” with an incredible view!

I’m not normally one to like country music (or at least admit it), but it does seem strangely fitting with this backdrop. I will say the songs that really get me come from my childhood. I’d wake up early (when it was my turn to help with the morning chores) and go outside before the world woke up. It’s funny, country was the only station that ever seemed to work out there in that barn. I listened to Paul Overstreet, George Strait, Alan Jackson, and… Garth Brooks.

The other day, we were farming my grandpa’s land and The River by Garth Brooks came on the local radio station.

I’ll go ahead and admit it – I rustled up my best twang and sang from a deep place in my chest about sailing my vessel until the river runs dry – following my dreams like a vessel on a river.

I wondered how many times my grandpa said, “Well, we’re just gonna keep on farming until the Lord tells us different.”

With eight kids, nobody would have questioned him if he’d given up and moved on to something with a bit more promise of provision. But, in all my growing up years, I never heard his kids wishing their childhood happened any different.

The Lord certainly guided his way as a father as much as a farmer (of course, he had a wife who wouldn’t let him forget it). Maybe my grandpa’s quiet time with the Lord happened when he rode his horse out behind the barn to check the fields. I know my grandma would do her Bible study in the station wagon in the garage, where the kids were told she would not (under any circumstances) be disturbed.

I don’t know how they did it.

There are so many stories. Maybe someday I’ll start gathering and assembling all the stories I’ve heard that had this beautiful backdrop. 

Maybe someday I’ll have stories of my own, like packing my family of 10 into a 4 door sedan for a road trip or setting a feast for dinner (even in hard times) and watching it come out, “just right.”

Maybe someday I can …

let LOVE fly like cRaZy
in a way that generations after will remember.

Posted on by Caroline 3

learning gratitude

the smiles that love built

“Why do you love your mother?”

It was a simple question that came up last week at Bible study somewhere after, “Why do we suffer?” and before, “Will we recognize each other in heaven?”

It’s an old question that tries to probe the origins of love for others. We went around in circles but agreed our love for our mothers is a response. I would add that my love for my mother has grown as I’ve realized how it comes without condition… often before I call home to spill my guts she’ll have already anticipated my outburst.

Skip to tonight. I was at worship at the Micah Project where I heard a different Mothers Day story. Four of the littlest boys recorded a song to show their love for their mothers, though they do not know where their mothers are. The song broke my heart because it talks about trying to remember her face and her voice, but reassuring her that (wherever she is) she is loved.

I am overwhelmed. Not just that I have a mom who loves me without condition, but that I can picture her face when she is joyful, scared, sad, or with a fit of giggles. I know what she will look like when I get off the plane on June 24 and I know how her hug will feel. In many ways, my mom is home to me. So, when I see these boys throwing love out into the heavy night sky, I feel even more blessed to know exactly how my mom will answer the phone the next time I call.

And in all of this, I am learning gratitude. If I am loving my mom well, I am loving the Lord who shared her with me. If I am loving the Lord well, then I am responding first and always in gratitude to His kindness… and this means being a “mom” to those who throw love out to the night sky without knowing if it will return. With these boys and students and anyone God sovereignly places in my path, I want to be available to show the unconditional love of my Father (which will forever be on beautiful display in my mom).

let LOVE fly like cRaZy

Posted on by Caroline 2

A Valentine’s Day Limmerick

In typical Nichols (CHEESY) fashion, my mom read this poem to me because she knew I would be absent from the celebration of love. Please enjoy it and read it several times over. This might give a little insight into where all my cheesy ideas come from! 🙂 Here’s the last Valentine’s day picture of my family I can find (circa 2006?)

 

we were missing a few, but you can see the reds, pinks, and white in FULL force!

 

A VALENTINE’S DAY LIMERICK
by Cindy Nichols
There once was a family strong
Who usually all got along
They just kept on growing
All the while knowing
God blessed them with love and with song!

We welcome two new Nichols girls
They both have beautiful ‘curls’
Though Natalie’s are short
And better for sport
Grace’s are long and unfurled!

The boys are men now, it’s so
Their height has stopped to grow
One is a dad
One is a “Nav”
And one’s getting married, you know!

The girls all love to laugh
To sing, to love, to craft
They talk to each other
And sometimes their mother
Who gives cheesy advice on their behalf.

We daily count our blessing
For our family of loving siblings
God is making you strong
To Him you belong
There is no greater joy you are bringing!

——-

Isn’t my mom great?

She knows how to let LOVE fly like cRaZy!

Posted on by Caroline 3

we are looking at the same stars

My mom sent me an email this morning, bright and early before electricity was working in my neighborhood. She wrote to update on James, who was released this morning, praise the Lord! He posted pictures on facebook from the collision and I am thanking the Lord for His presence and provision on Friday night.

God's hand of protection surely covered him!
the mash-up

God has surely preserved James so he can continue to live glorifying the Lord. I’m praying James’s life verse will be rooted more firmly in his heart,

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
(Hebrews 10:39 ESV)

The only reason my mom left the first surprise hospital visit was to trek across the state to be with my gram in a different sterile room. My grandpa followed an ambulance in the middle of the night in a snowstorm on Friday and yesterday my mom joined them. Praise God, gram is stable and my mom is there to support both of them. She will get a pacemaker tomorrow and we will pray she flies through all procedures without any difficulty.

And here I am, making a mess of crafts in my bedroom.

the space in the middle is where I sit

I guess this is what I do when my arms can’t reach that far.

I am so confident placing my loved ones in the care of my Savior. I am confident in His plan and in His eternity and in His love. And only for that confidence can I trust it will be okay, because in His presence there is fullness of joy (Ps. 16:11). All the time, joy.

So, when I read my mom’s last words of encouragement I smiled a silly smile inside.

“Have a great Sunday, sweetheart.  You are not that far away.  We are looking at the same stars.”

Yep, we sure are. And, today, the goal is not to worry or be anxious, but to walk boldly in the peace of Christ,

letting LOVE fly like cRaZy,
for the glory of Christ’s name and for the good of all people.

Posted on by Caroline 0

pray for baby nichols

Hello friends!
I just finished a fairly big project and I’m not as happy as I should be, but there is something to jump for joy about today…. and that is BABY NICHOLS on the way!
Please pray for my parents tonight (www.myafricansons.blogspot.com) as they travel across several states to reach my brother and sister-in-law, who are super ready to bring their daughter into the world tomorrow morning.
This baby is already loved so deeply and so well. I’m praying for strength and for energy and for joy when the family of two becomes three. 🙂
Here’s a few thoughts about it:
i’m not sure what you are thinking, little one,
but i wonder these things as i cover you with love

are you excited to enter this new world?
will you see its beauty?

what will you reach for
and toward what will you run?

will you twirl in circles and sun rays?
and will you love to dance?

how will you smile and will you love laughter?
and how will you like your chocolate?

oh, little one, i wonder these things
while i pray over you and sing

oh, little one, don’t you know, you are loved!
you are so dearly loved!
Friends, please pray! Pray for safety and for God’s blessing over the delivery tomorrow!
Posted on by Caroline 9

something sweet

Okay, if you haven’t heard about my obsession with my family’s famed “sweet dinner” then here’s an introduction(previously: here and here and here). I wasn’t super inspired to write a blogpost tonight, but then I received an email from Focus on the Family encouraging me to write an essay about my dinner table traditions as a tribute to my mom and I thought, why not?
So, below you will find the less than 250 word essay (with cheesiness to the MAX) about how my mom served up our dinners with heaping helpings of love. 😉 The above picture is our most recent family Valentine’s day (circa 2006?), but we are missing Samuel, Bethany, and half of mom’s face.
Also, Mom: if I by chance win, they’ll be calling you because they didn’t have a space for international entries. 🙂
—–
Growing up on a small farm in rural Iowa, we were well accustomed to skimping. It just meant that the State Fair would be our family vacation, an understood one-gift Christmas expectation, and wearing hand-me-downs proudly.
My mother somehow managed to raise five children, complete the never-finished duties of farmwife, and (often in the midst of total chaos) do everything but skimp on such tantalizing spreads for dinner that all previous disagreements would subside after the prayer.
One meal in particular remains a favorite (apart from the charming and compulsory ‘etiquette dinners’), so much so that I’ve duplicated it in several places I’ve lived since, giving my best effort to not skimp on the love my mom spread out so lavishly.
Valentine’s Day, or Sweet Dinner as I affectionately call it, was not a day for special dates or sweethearts. Valentine’s Day at the Nichols house was about love. The wonderful, true, dependable kind of love. Mom labored all day secretly in the kitchen (which itself is a feat with our curious fingers) and produced a table resplendent with pinks, reds, and candles aglow. We all received a personal poem, heart-shaped cake with pink frosting, and red-dyed tapioca pudding. Much fuss was made about the fine china (a wedding gift), which helped display the roast beef, carrots, and sweet corn (frozen from harvest). Without fail, discussion would turn to our love for one another.
When Jesus narrowed things down, He didn’t skimp on love and my mother followed suit.
—–
PS: Mom, you should enter the contest too! How awesome would it be if we could have a Focus on the Family sponsored girls night! 🙂
.let LOVE FLY like cRaZY.
Posted on by Caroline 3

my desk is a brick wall

Hair wadded on the top of my head means business. It means there is no messing around with swoopy stragglers, determined to blur my vision. It means my just-clean, still wet hair is tightly bound with a wonderful elastic band higher than most cheerleaders dare to perk their tresses.

And this is me tonight, after a most random day. You’ve heard the cliché “writer’s block,” where the words stop forming at the tip of your tongue and the typewriter has been silent too long to be a hesitation or a dramatic pause or an intentional ‘brain break.’

I’m not talking about writing (unfortunately, I have no reason to make a legitimate “writer’s block” plea). I’m talking about work.

For the past week I’ve been waiting.
waiting for a telephone call about school closures
waiting for a demonstration to finish
waiting for stoplights that only blink yellow
waiting for the curfew to be lifted
waiting for internet to load news about my city
waiting in lines at the crammed grocery store
waiting for things to bake

The waiting was not peaceful. Rather, I should say finding peace amidst the wait has been a fight. I tried on lots of different responses to see if they would fit the (very) many moments:
Some moments I was antsy (truly fidgeting) and anxious.
Other moments I could appear resigned and even indifferent – kind of a, “whatever will be, will be” attitude.
Sometimes I would stretch my little creative fingers and try to make paintbrushes express the palette pushing at my brain.
A good amount of moments I’ve spent reading – classics and philosophy and studies.
Moments slipped away in regret for moments wasted.
Moments were thrown at wishes for moments to come.

So many moments and all that flustered, not-peaceful waiting were wound very tightly around a hope that someday we would return to school and find a routine hidden underneath the newness of a third “first day of school.”

That day was today. The routine? Still looking.
I went from chapel to office to office to chapel to my desk… and quickly left to find others to meet with and de-brief with and compare notes with.

My mind is such a stubborn creature. I couldn’t make it bend to the appropriate response to the moments of this day, which was of course, “Be productive!”

No matter how many times I tried to shove my thoughts into an unseemly straight pattern, I found myself sitting at my desk (the smallest amount of moments) busting the seems of the pattern because nothing was fitting. My desk is a brick wall.

All this was satisfactorily frustrating (I would be concerned if this behavior wasn’t curious) and I came home tired (which I thought was completely unmerited). I won’t bore you with the play-by-play, but I want to share a few moments where God seemed to open the sky and say “here is the beauty.”

I was able to chat with my mom (trust me, I never though ‘chat with my mom’ would ever sound normal) tonight and she reminded me, in her wonderful motherly way,

“BUT God is still on His throne and He is God all by Himself. Give some thought to throwing out your ideas and plans and joining Him in where He is working right now.”

And I say, “Okay, mom. I will try that.”

Listening to: Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors
Drinking: Green Tea with coconut, ginger, and vanilla

Posted on by Caroline 0

papa

a poem for my dad
i might have been confused
about your love at first
all the whiskers, the wrestling –
the working, raw hands were the worst

those dreadful early mornings
when my ‘turn’ came around
I heard your voice in the stair
and then slowly tumbled down

I climbed upon your lap
no matter what my age
and we sat there together
and together there we prayed

then out to the milking barn,
too tired to complain,
I’d sit on a bucket and you’d ask,
“who’s your best friend these days?”

I was a normal, growing girl
all moody and self-involved
and so I want to say I’m sorry
for not seeing your resolve

your persistence to know me
and your love I shrugged off
your interest and encouragement
when others called it a lost cause

thanks for giving pointers
on free throw shots and running form
thank you for attending
every time I would perform

I am sure that I passed over
and looked the other way
when you chose to sacrifice
so my joy could be displayed

I remember those nike shoes
you gave me once for Christmas
I don’t know how you got them, but
the miami dolphins colors – delicious

every season with it came
a new thing for us to conquer
unruly bulls, flaming buildings, and

flooding basements almost put us asunder
any moment I’ve resented you
for punishments or curfews or tempers
is swept away with one small truth
that your love was at the center

in the several years since
I have lived outside your “roof”
I grow ever more thankful
for your tough love and your reproof

not all dads are like you
though many are very fine
I believe that there are very few
who can imitate Christ’s love, divine

we are growing now, both me and you
we are struggling steady onward
I just want to say thank you again
for pressing farther in and upward

I never called you papa
though I always wished I could
but I’m alright to call you dad
because our love is understood

Posted on by Caroline 5

power of prayer

The Lord is sovereign over all Creation. I believe it.

Please pray for these things tonight:
-cousin Livvy in the children’s hospital in Denver for pneumonia of unknown origin
-grandma still in the hospital with little improvement today
-friend Anna, whose heart is broken into a million tiny little pieces
-student, Bryan Vasquez, here who had appendicitis and had an operation, but he has a blood condition and there have been many complications and he is bleeding now internally

God is sovereign and holds these things in His hands. He has weaved each one of us together and nothing escapes His sight. Each of these prayers is just all about brokenness. We are so broken. Humanity is so broken. We have to trust our Savior is Lord over everything.

Posted on by Caroline 0